SAN ANTONIO, TX (June 19, 2016) -- Fred Wedel’s first
Texas Golf Association event was a memorable one. The
recent Pepperdine graduate from The Woodlands on
Sunday won the 107th Texas Amateur presented by
Insperity with a four-round total of 5-under-par 279 at
iconic Oak Hills Country Club.

With only this summer’s U.S. Amateur standing
between himself and turning professional, the 21-year-
old Wedel’s amateur days are numbered. Ranked 252 in
the World Amateur Golf Rankings, he decided winning
the state’s oldest and most prestigious amateur
tournament was something he needed to do.

“Winning the state amateur is something to cross
off my bucket list,” said Wedel, who shot a 1-under 70
in the final round to beat McKinney’s Branson Davis by
one shot. “I wish I had played in more TGA
tournaments. This is such a well-run event.”

Zach Atkinson, the 2004 Texas Amateur champion
and member of the 2014 U.S. State Team
Championship squad that won a national title, came in
third place. He shot a 2-over 73 in the final round and
finished at 3-under 281. Recent U.S. Four Ball
Champion Benjamin Baxter from Flower Mound shot the
round of the day with a sizzling 6-under 65 and vaulted
into a tie for fourth place with Austin’s Wehman Hopke.
Baxter and Hopke posted final scores of 2-under 282.

Wedel began the final round two shots behind
leader Chad Sewell from Conroe. Just 17 years old,
Sewell had a chance to become the 107-year-old
event’s youngest winner. He back-pedaled Sunday and
finished tied for 13th at 3-over 287. Wedel, meanwhile,
made six birdies over the course the day to offset five
bogeys, including one on the final hole. Holding a two-
shot lead with one hole to play, Wedel missed a three-
footer for par on the 72nd hole. It didn’t matter, but it
did give the self-effacing Wedel ammunition to criticize
himself.

Each day throughout the 72-hole tournament,
Wedel downplayed his performance and talked more
about the putts he missed than the great shots he
executed or gutsy birdies he drained on the challenging
A.W. Tillinghast-designed course. He kicked himself
verbally even though he was in contention from the first
round.

“Anything but a win here this week was going to be
a disappointment,” he said minutes after the victory. “I
played really good golf over the course of my senior
year, and I just came in here expecting to win.”

After starting the day with two early bogeys, Wedel
used birdies on the seventh, ninth and 10th holes to
claw to top of the leaderboard. For two hours, Wedel,
Davis, Sewell and Atkinson took turns passing each
other for the lead.

Prior to the championship, several Oak Hills
members said whichever player made it through holes
11, 12 and 13—a stretch known as “Tillie’s Run” and the
hardest on the course—at even par or better would win
the championship. On Sunday, Wedel was a 2-foot tap-
in from going par-par-par on Tillie’s Run. Then he lipped
out the short putt on the 13th hole.

Wedel bounced right back, however, and sunk
birdies on the 14th and 15th holes. In typical fashion,
Wedel wanted to talk more about the miss on 13 than
the spectacular par saves he made on the two previous
holes.

“I just expect more out of myself,” said Wedel, who
in 2014 advanced to the semifinals of the U.S. Amateur.
“I’m normally a really good putter inside of 8 feet. Out
here I missed one from 3 feet or shorter every
day.”

He wasn’t alone. Everyone in the field struggled at
one point during the championship. That’s what Oak
Hills does to even the best golfers. For the week, the
heavily treed course with small, lightning-fast greens
played to a stroke average of 75.01. Holes 11-13
ranked as the three most difficult. Wedel never shot
worse than 70 in his four rounds.

Now he adds his name to the century-old H.L.
Edwards Memorial Trophy alongside the likes of Masters
champions Ben Crenshaw and Charles Coody and
multiple PGA Tour winners Scott Verplank and Mark
Brooks.

“It means a lot to me,” Wedel said. “To be a part of
a list like that is special. I’m obviously nowhere near
those ranks, but I hope to make a name for myself
someday. I’ll always be able to look back and say I won
this tournament, too.”

Those who fell short had plenty of reasons to leave
Oak Hills with their pride intact. Davis, the second-place
finisher, made three front nine birdies without a bogey
to grab a share of the lead at the turn, for example. He
ran into trouble on Tillie’s Run with bogeys on the 450-
yard, par-4 11th and 474-yard, par-4 12th. He made
pars in from there, unable to coax in his birdie
opportunities.

“The front nine was pretty much on cruise control,”
Davis said. “The back nine was a little bit of a grind. I
hit some loose shots out there. But overall, I was
pleased with how I played. It was a good week for
me.”

Sewell also didn’t have to look far for positives. For
the first time all week, the 36- and 54-hole leader got
out of position routinely off the tee and suffered with a
final round 80. Still, for someone playing in his first
men’s amateur event, Sewell proved himself worthy.

“It was a huge learning experience,” said the
Conroe High School senior who recently gave his verbal
commitment to UT-San Antonio. “I know I have the
ability to play that good, and I know I can play with
these guys.”

Atkinson, who celebrated his birthday Monday and
his wife’s birthday Saturday, wore a large smile on his
face while holding his young son in his arms moments
after signing his card on Father’s Day.

“I didn’t play bad,” said Atkinson, who won the
North Texas Amateurs in 2013 and 2015. “I just didn’t
make enough birdies. Fred played solid and deserved to
win.”